This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Before Dakota Smith was gunned down this weekend alongside a 2-month-old girl and her grandmother in Salt Lake City, he was a big-hearted prankster and animal lover, his friends and family said at a vigil Monday night.
"He had the most giant heart of anyone I ever met in my life," said Stacey Smith, stepmother to the 28-year-old man whose body was found Friday in a home near 600 North and 2000 West, apparently the victim of a triple homicide. Heike Poike, 50, and her 2-month-old granddaughter, Lyrik Poike, also were shot to death.
Police have arrested 32-year-old Alexander Hung Tran in connection to the shooting deaths. Tran lived in the basement of the house, which he owned, detectives have said. He apparently was letting Heike and Lyrik Poike live with him.
But Smith's family said they don't know how he was involved with the Poike family or Tran, and police have said they don't know what Tran's motive may have been.
"We're assuming he was friends with Heike's daughter," Stacey Smith said of 23-year-old Ashley Heike, who was Lyrik's mother. Ashley Heike was one of eight Utahns indicted last month in connection to charges of sex trafficking of children in California and Idaho, though court documents do not detail her alleged involvement.
But Stacey Smith and Dakota's father, Scott Smith, have said they have never heard of the Heike family. Dakota Smith was "trying to turn his life around" and was living with acquaintances while making more permanent housing arrangements, Stacey Smith said.
Friend Angel Murphy said that Dakota Smith knew Ashley Heike, but Murphy said she didn't know how; she said they were not in a romantic relationship.
"I'm shocked," Murphy said. "He was a good guy who had a huge heart."
Murphy joined about 30 other friends and family to light candles and share memories of Dakota Smith at West Valley City Park, where Smith enjoyed walking dogs from the nearby animal shelter, Scott Smith said.
Dakota Smith also loved cats and was devastated when his cat Garfield died earlier this year.
"We hope [Dakota] didn't suffer and he went fast," said friend Jenn Long. "But I'm sure Garfield was right there."
Long described Dakota Smith as a loving friend and an exuberant prankster. Earlier this month, she said, Dakota joined her family in greeting Long's daughter, Shianne, at her middle school for her 14th birthday. The group wore light-up glasses and big party hats and sounded an air horn while Dakota chased Shianne with a can of silly string and sang "Happy Birthday" to her.
Long said the loss is particularly painful because the family has no explanation for the shooting.
"We want to know: Why?" Long said.
"He didn't ask for this," Scott Smith agreed. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Scott Smith said he last spoke to his son on Tuesday or Wednesday, and nothing unusual was said. He said he sent a Facebook message to Dakota Smith on Friday before leaving for a camping trip. Dakota hadn't answered, but his father said he "didn't think anything of it" and assumed he'd find a reply when he returned from camping.
"Instead, I got the call from police on Saturday," Scott Smith said. Police went to the Poikes' home Friday after Heike Poike's 8-year-old grandson was not picked up at school.
Heike Poike posted a picture of her smiling granddaughter on her Facebook page at 7:33 p.m. Thursday, the day before the bodies were discovered. She wrote, "Time for Lyrik to go to bed. Nite nite everybody."
Twitter: @erinalberty